OPINION
Esports Journalists Make Their Own Roster Moves “Journalism can never be silent — that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault.” AUTHOR Henrieta Hyrliková @HenrietaHyrlik
s American journalist and diplomat Henry Grunwald said, the nature of journalism is to point out injustices in the world — that nature is the exact same thing that can sometimes halt its admirable efforts.
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In esports journalism, many have become increasingly vocal about the landscape of media lately, generously criticising the fundamentals of how the majority of currently active esportsfocused publications function. Coinciding with the wave of criticism, the sector has been through what
is likely its biggest personnel shift in recent history. As 2022 dawned, numerous prominent esports journalists & editors left their publications to either work for someone else, work on their own projects, or to leave the space completely. Former contributors of The Esports Journal HB Duran and Adam Fitch joined the likes of James Fudge, George Geddes, and Jacob Wolf. Even Christopher Hana, Co-Founder & former Chief Executive Officer of The Esports Observer decided to step down from his position to join the executive team of Epics Collectibles, a platform
for digital and physical esports trading cards. FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES Mainstream media faces its own myriad of controversies, so it’s no shock that esports publications have their own share of problems. Clickchasing, insufficient business models, underpaid writers, immense grinds, and anonymous leaker Twitter accounts are but a few of the profession’s common woes. To gain a better insight into the current landscape of esports journalism, The Esports Journal spoke with some of the well-known esports journalists that recently made moves and left their previously associated publications to pursue new endeavours. They were not very optimistic. “There’s a lot of talented people working in the industry, but not too many companies successfully monetising their content,” said Jacob Wolf, current Founder & Executive Producer of production studio overcome,formerly Chief Reporter & Investigative Lead at Dot Esports. Wolf also had a stint at the now-defunct ESPN Esports experiment.
Adam Fitch Head of Content at Hitmarker
“That can often lead to poor working conditions or lack of resources to
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